Lamont Brown

By TAMARA RAWSON

LAMONT BROWN

PHOTO BY TAMARA RAWSON

Airmen are talking explosives now more than ever—not the ammunition some would expect, but rather explosive hip combustion. CrossFit is a constantly varied, high-intensity workout sport that’s catching on like wildfire, and experts say it’s all in the hips.

“I have had a life-changing experience due to CrossFit,” said Senior Airman Lamont Brown, a 30th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Brown said the strict fitness standards in the Air Force used to be a constant stress factor for him. He struggled with his weight and couldn’t run a mile without wheezing.

“A big guy like me was failing, failing, failing, and I didn’t know what to do,” he said.

Winds of change blew in when the Firefighter Combat Challenge, also known as “the toughest two minutes in sports,” was implemented in Brown’s squadron.

“Wearing 50 pounds of gear, sprinting a 45-pound hose upstairs, hoisting another hose four flights, to sprint back down, run around a cone, and then bust a forcible entry to pull a 145-pound dummy out of a wall was intense,” Brown said, “but I liked it.”

That’s when Brown’s friends told him he had to try CrossFit.

“The first workout I tried was called Fade to Black. It consisted of 10 push-ups, 10 pull-ups, 10 squats, and a 400-meter run repeated 10 times. By the end of it I had [dripped] a pool of sweat. I was hooked,” Brown said. He began dropping weight, and watched what he ate. “I kept at it, and started blowing those tests out of the water.”

Brown has been a CrossFit enthusiast for six years now, and says the best Christmas gift ever was when he heard that Central Coast CrossFit (CCC) was opening in Orcutt. He has progressed as an athlete, and recently became a coach at CCC.

“My current goal is to give back everything that CrossFit has given me,” Brown said.

Chad Franco, owner of CCC, said, “Lamont is passionate about becoming a better version of himself.”

Franco said Brown uses his passion to motivate others, and can always be relied upon.

Brown noted that the most inspiring thing for him to see is women who come in without natural ability, but still give 110 percent.

Watching 45-year-old women live their lives to the fullest and hearing them talk about how much better they feel now than they did at 25 or 35 is its own reward. Brown said he’s touched by their strength and determination. “These girls could be doing things that are much easier, but they’re here doing the same weights as the guys,” Brown said. “I wasn’t expecting to get this reaction out of myself.”